IMHO, that would be a shame. Admittedly, I never want to subscribe to software. If I pay for software, I want to be able to use it as long as it runs on my system. But outside of that personal consideration, the subscription model conflicts with Poser's dependence on a content community. Even if you say a little over 50% of the customer base likes it, I'd bet it at least rankles at least a little under 50%. Poser content is largely useless outside of the software. I'd bet about one in ever two customers would feel less confident about buying Poser content if they had to subscribe to use both Poser and the content.

What was the community buying at it's height in activity? Say an average of $50 per month per Poser (and then DS) user? Maybe even $100 per month? Even if the wages/cost of living ratio rose to where it was then, I can't see people paying that kind of money per month on top of a subscription, let alone risking that kind of investment on something they might stop subscribing to. I think I wouldn't ever risk buying any Poser specific content if I had to subscribe to Poser. After all, life happens. eclark is talking about not being able to pay for internet at all. And that's not uncommon here in the states. Last I saw any numbers, Poser is mostly used by hobbyist illustrators who are older. It seems to me a Poser subscription would be the first thing to go if people needed to tighten their belts even a little.

I own a lot of content I got on the "better safe than sorry" principle. I own a lot I haven't used yet. Having been around since 2002 or so, I would have spent hundreds, if not thousands, less if I'd been pressured to only buy what I had plans to use immediately, when I could be sure of still renting Poser. Heck, I'm not even sure I would have bought V4 under those circumstances. I had a lot of issues with her, especially compared to V3, and almost none of them were ever fixed by anyone.

It just seems to me that if Poser went subscription, Poser content sales would take a medium to enormous hit. Depending on how much of the market was pushed to switch from buying based on long term potential to buying for immediate use. I can't imagine a scenario where people who couldn't afford to pay for Poser outright decided to subscribe and buy content, so I can't imagine sales rising. Maybe I'm wrong (I'm sure there are numbers somewhere on this), but for something as non-essential as Poser is for most, I'd bet a one time splurge, at Christmas or a birthday if necessary, would be a more common fit.

But that's just my analysis given what I know. Bondware's data far supersedes mine. If they numbers say subscription would work best, I certainly won't argue. Though I would try to make the best decision for myself.